Victorian-era cricket? Only in my dreams

There's a first time for everything.
Last night, I dreamt about VICTORIAN-ERA CRICKET for the first time.
The players all had facial hair and the spectators all wore bowlers or top hats. I think there might have even been a lengthy ocean voyage involved.
It was cricket, though, so it was nice and warm. Not like last night in reality, when I slipped on the ice in our back alley.
Almost assuredly, I experienced a rare (for me) cricket dream because I have been reading "STORY OF THE ASHES," a chronicle of the ENGLAND v. AUSTRALIA rivalry I acquired in CAMBRIDGE, during my recent trip to Britain.
The book collects numerous match reports and essays from the pages of WISDEN CRICKET MONTHLY and THE CRICKETER, a pair of esteemed, rival cricket magazines that merged in 2003.
Although I have been reading the book for days, I have only now reached 1902 -- which speaks to cricket's long history.
Before falling asleep and dreaming about cricket, I read about JACK BROWN -- England's doomed hero of 1895.
With the series against Australia level at two victories each and England chasing 297 runs to win the final Test match against Australia in Melbourne, Brown scored 140 runs to win the match. Brown scored his first 50 runs in just 28 minutes -- still the fastest recorded half-century in Test cricket.
Brown died in 1904, age just 35, of heart failure, robbing England of a legendary player.
Waking up, I had to take a few moments to realize I wasn't watching cricket during Queen Victoria's reign, and that the only rain I would experience today would be the freezing variety. That's just not cricket.